GREENE COUNTY
After starting the year off 2-1, the Lake Oconee Academy football team was knocked back down a notch by Oglethorpe County last Friday night.
The Titans lost 20-7 to the Patriots in a tightly contested battle – allowing two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter to end the game.
Second-year head coach Patrick Stewart acknowledged that even though it wasn’t how they wanted to end the game, the team still has the confidence to compete going forward.
“Seeing us beat Skipstone last week, it’s hard for us to lose games like this, because the guys believe they can hang with these teams,” Stewart said. “It doesn’t feel like a year two program. Now, instead of hanging with these guys we think we can beat them, so everybody was disappointed knowing they could have won that game.”
Oglethorpe County opened the game with a 14-yard touchdown run in the first quarter to put the Patriots up seven. The rest of the first half was a defensive battle, and neither team could move the ball down the field on the other.
That changed when Lake Oconee Academy quarterback Ike O’Neal scrambled into the end zone in the third quarter to tie the game at 7-7.
Unfortunately, turnovers led to the Titans’ demise. The Patriots went up 14-7 on a 19-yard passing touchdown, which was shortly followed by a long run that ended in six.
Stewart saw the intensity his guys played with and attributed the loss to the team’s inability to hold onto the ball and make plays in key moments.
“We had a lot of great effort, and Oglethorpe is a good team,” Stewart said. “We made a lot of mistakes as a team – turning the ball over and a couple of key penalties really hurt us. It was really close until late in the fourth quarter, but when you have those mistakes and turnover, it’s beating yourself, and that’s what happened to us.”
Oglethorpe’s defense also held Lake Oconee Academy’s offense in check – allowing them to gain only 145 total yards.
O’Neal ended the contest with 87 passing yards and two interceptions with a 40 percent completion rate, and the running back trio of Cameron Kelley, Kam Jeter and Walker Poyner only combined for 76 yards on the ground.
On top of that, there were multiple drives that were halted due to Titan penalties. Going forward, Stewart believes the team can be successful if they learn how to limit their mistakes.
“Going forward, we just have to try and eliminate the mistakes,” Stewart said. “We fumbled the ball twice and turned it over both times in the red zone, so that killed the momentum. If we can be protective of the ball in the next game and after, then we will be alright.”
One of the only bright spots was Lake Oconee Academy’s defense. It held Oglethorpe’s offense to less than 300 total yards and forced them to turn the ball over twice – one fumble and one interception.
Stewart acknowledged that the defense kept the Titans in the game and that they will need to continue to be sound if they want to win more down the stretch.
“The defense answered every drive, even though the offense didn’t give them the best field position,” Stewart said. “That had them playing with their backs against the wall for most of the game, but they responded on almost every occasion. Looking ahead to next week, we have to be disciplined and know what to do in our alignment.”